What inspired
the creation of the Citizen Harold?

Perhaps, the
single greatest inspiration was the vast amount of bureaucracy and
worthless exercises that occur in the regular business world and
academia. Like waiting for the 1 in a million phone call from an airline
travel mag or a ginormous corporate newspaper. We could not foresee
ourselves being cooped up in a 3x3 cube with a poster of Disney world
thumb tacked to the corkboard walls while busting out charts and graphs
in colors like lapis and periwinkle and using impressive phraseology
like "proactive," "cerebrate," and "let's
noodle on that."

How long has
the Citizen Harold been in print?

Appropriately
enough, Harold premiered on April 1, 1999.

How often is
the paper published?

Whenever it
feels right. But, in general, monthly. Except for last summer. We were
asked by Miramax to write them a madcap caper and we developed a
(secret) prototype marketing tool for Anheuser-Busch. Beers not
included.

Is the print
edition available only in the Twin Cities?

Actually, as of
last month, it's now available in Northfield, Minnesota, and we have a
friend named Mike who now lives Ohio and is making friends by
distributing hundreds of our papers in that meaty Bowling Green, Ohio,
student market.

What is a
typical day at the Citizen Harold like?

Get up and run
to the window to see if today was the day the money truck pulled up to
the curb in front of our 500 square foot apartment. Shake off the
dejection and have a cup of coffee or a can of already opened Coke.
Check the email for fan support ( Always an uplifter). Check the website
and the hits (Whoa! Look at that! We now average over 2,000 hits a day.
Somebody besides loved ones and paid professionals must like us...) Then
hit the phones and call dozens of businesses compromised of prospective
advertisers, associates and countless others who might want to make a
difference in our lives. Have lunch and snicker that we're still alive
after a year and a half. After a microwaved potato and bean combo or a
pastrami and swiss on white, we fire up the cumulative 400,000 + miled
vehicles of ours and track down our advertisers, deliver some of our
papers, check drop sites, talk to people, soak up some potential
material and curse the traffic on I-94. Finally, return home and begin
writing. Or, have a dinner of room temperature bean with bacon soup
straight from the can and head out to a local Citizen Harold-friendly
bar and involuntarily brainstorm ideas. Or, in effect, banter on about
nothing for extended periods of time aided by a local macrobrew.
Finally, return home and write down our thoughts before we forget what
we incessantly carried on about and enter them into the computer to be
ready for press time. Then, as the days toward production near, we lay
out the paper, create the ads, lay-in the stories, edit it and cart it
off to the printer. Boom. A paper. And, yes, the two of us do nearly
every aspect of the business.

Where do you
see the Citizen Harold in 5 years?

In a desolate
world where rebel forces of human attempt to usurp power from the
androids who have enslaved all. Actually, The Citizen Harold would be a
weekly publication in not only the Cities, but available in the 'burbs'
as, well. Perhaps, we could even fire it up in another town. And, like
the Miramax and Anhueser-Busch projects, Harold would hopefully open
other doors within the entertainment industry. And, we'd like to have
painted a taxicab with our logo and name all over it by then. Or a bus.

How would you
describe the genre of The Citizen Harold?

What do you
think about the current state of journalism?

The most
difficult thing about journalism today is the fierce comedic competition
"real" news provides.

What advice do
you give to writers/publishers trying to break into the market?

Avoid L.A. and
making excuses as to why you can't/shouldn't/won't give your talents a
shot. We created the first 9 issues of the Harold on a $150 computer ( a
486 no less ) without any prior experience in the newspaper industry and
pulled it off. And, as they say, the most difficult thing about
writing.. is writing. And, take the "expert" advice with a
grain of salt. If you've done your research and what you're thinking
makes sense, go with it. Unless it's of course, starting your own
asphalt refinery or new brand of detergent or something.

What are some
of the pitfalls and joys of working on an entrepreneurial venture such
as The Citizen Harold?

Perhaps the
greatest joy is the fact that we don't have to have 37 forms in
triplicate with the signature of 7 of our superiors, including the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, to approve any changes we'd like to make
the paper. The fan mail is great ( and bountiful!) and being the chief
gardeners behind ensuring the growth of our literary weed. Pitfalls?
Selling ads--but it beats encyclopedias and vacuum cleaners. And, we
can't fire each other. Oh, and countless other electrons of joyfulness
can be found at: www.thecitizenharold.com